Chang``e-2 will also orbit 100 kilometres closer to the moon and carry a higher resolution camera, he added.

China launched its first lunar probe, Chang``e-1, named after China``s mythical Moon Goddess, on October 24, 2007. Its 16-month mission ended on March 1, 2009, when it crashed into the moon``s surface.

According to China``s three-phase moon exploration road map, the country will launch the Chang``e-2 lunar orbiter and then land Chang``e-3 on the moon in 2013. It is hoped that a sample of moon rock can be brought back to Earth in 2017.